The present invention relates to an erroneous operation preventing device and a stowable vehicle seat and particularly to an erroneous operation preventing device and a stowable vehicle seat that reliably perform stowing and returning operations.
A stowable vehicle seat is known, along with an associated technique, that has a rear end portion of a seat cushion constituting a vehicle seat that is supported on the front side of a containing recess portion (stowage recess portion) formed in a vehicle body floor rotatably in a front-and-rear direction, where the vehicle seat is rotated rearward while a seat back is folded down onto the seat cushion to be stowable in the containing recess portion.
That is, as shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2006-82698 (“the '698 Patent”), rotating shafts disposed at both side edge portions on the right and left of the front portion of the containing recess portion and brackets disposed at right and left portions on the rear end portion of the seat cushion are provided, and the right and left brackets are disposed while supporting the rotating shafts so that the rear end portion of the seat cushion is supported rotatably in the front-and-rear direction so that the seat is contained in the containing recess portion.
In the technique of the '698 Patent, operating elements for a reclining mechanism (reclining lock) and a leg-portion unlocking mechanism (striker lock) that operate in containing (stowing) and returning of the stowable vehicle seat are provided for each function. That is, as the operating elements for the reclining mechanism and the leg-portion unlocking mechanism, a tension strap (strap) and a lever are used, respectively. These operating elements are installed on the seat rear face side, which is unreachable in a seated state in order to prevent an erroneous operation by children and the like.
An unlocking operation of the reclining mechanism by the strap is performed by an operator who pulls the strap rearward of the seat from the trunk side. Usually, the strap is attached to the seat rear face side as mentioned above, and there is no fear of an erroneous operation.
However, since the lock of the reclining mechanism is constructed to be unlocked also by pulling the strap to above the seat back, if the strap is pulled upward for some reason, there is a fear that the lock of the reclining mechanism is unlocked, and the seat back makes a movement that cannot be predicted by a passenger.
Moreover, the strap might be also used as the operating element in a seat in which the operating elements separated for each of the functions of the reclining unlocking mechanism and the leg-portion unlocking mechanism are integrated into single operation element, and the problem similar to the above technique is caused.